In any organisation, crises are unavoidable.

There are occasions that an organisation must deal

with significant issues that are triggered by natural disasters, incidents, or deliberate actions. A crisis

is defined as a major challenge to operations, if not managed properly, it can have negative

repercussions. Crisis management can be described as a concerted attempt to avoid or handle a crisis

that an organisation may face during its lifetime. The philosophy of crisis management was

developed during the 1980s, when there was a significant amount of environmental and industrial

crises.1 The five stages of crisis management cycle are: Pre-Crisis, Warning, Acute Crisis, Clean-up

and Post-Crisis. This paper presents the five stages of the crisis management and explains what

occurs at each stage.

At the pre-crisis cycle stage, the mechanisms for a crisis to emerge are in place, it awaits a

minor mistake to start the crisis. This can be caused by a manager's indifference or negligence of

some part of the business, such as dangerous activities or a lack of disaster planning, which begins to

sprout at this point. The lack of conducting a property assessment to find ways to strengthen the

structure from disruption is one example of a pre-crisis. Preparation and mitigation are the focus of

the pre-crisis stage. Prevention entails attempting to mitigate identified threats that may result in a

crisis. This should be a part of an organisation's risk control strategy. According to Coombs (2006),

organizations are best able to address emergencies when they have the following: a crisis response

plan that is revised at least once a year, a dedicated crisis management committee, execute drills to

validate the strategies and teams at least once a year, and pre-draft any crisis communications 2.

1
Barton, Laurence. 2001. Crisis in organizations II, 2nd ed. Cincinnati, OH: College Divisions South-Western.
2
Coombs, W. T. 2006. Code red in the boardroom: Crisis management as organizational DNA. Westport, CN: Praeger.
4
 The warning stage of the crisis management cycle is an alert stage where signs are issued.

According to Kash and Darling (1998), no matter how good an organisation is, "warning lights" are

always flashing3. This stage is regarded as one of the most critical stage of a crisis. It begins with the

recognition of a crisis, which can then be either solved and finished permanently, or it can evolve and

lead to total ruin. After this point, a crisis will quickly arise due to the fear of confronting the "rain" or

the issue by avoiding it. At this point, the typical reaction is either shock or denial and complacency.

Mass contact is typically avoided in the early stages of the crisis because the situation is confined to

the upper management. During this time, it is management’s responsibility to assess the situation and

evaluate the potential for damage, as well as any possible actions. When management initiate risk

management, an emergency response mechanism is used to trigger the organization's emergency

action plan, with messages aimed at bringing together staff members, leaders, and officials involved

in the incident or crisis.

The acute crisis stage occurs when the issue or crisis has reached the point where it is known

to the public. This is the crisis in its entirety, there are no more options. There is no way to ignore

the situation. At this point, management's actions can only limit the harm, but the organization would

have already sustained a loss. At the acute-crisis point, effective coordination is critical to ensuring

that all stakeholders are informed of the incident and given the appropriate guidance. First responders

are already summoned to the scene. When the situation draws to a close, the focus on coordination

shifts to delivering daily status alerts to concerned audiences, changing prior orders, controlling

speculation, and coordinating with leadership and responder teams. This is the period when the

manuals and modules for dealing with emergencies are pulled out and implemented, and it is

determined whether or not the crisis response team is well trained.

3
Kash, T. J., and Darling, J. R. (1998). Crisis management: Prevention, diagnosis and intervention. Leadership and
Organization Development Journal, 19(4), 179–186.
4
 When an issue goes beyond the warning stage without being resolved, it would have impacted

the organization, causing damages. The organisation is now required to make up for the loses, or at

the very least salvage the company's revenue, prestige, and production line. This stage is referred to

as the clean-up stage. In order to recover, an organization must deal with legal issues, public

scrutiny, and lawsuits. From all of this, an organization will see and identify the causes of those

crises, so that they do not arise again4.

The final stage of the crisis management cycle is the post-crisis stage. It is at this stage that the

organization tries to recoup their losses, and show the community, shareholders, and customers the

repercussions of the crisis through all-clear alerts and reassurance messages5. The key goals of the

organization in the post-crisis stage are to recoup the losses, evaluate the performance during the

crisis, and identify necessary changes that need to be made in the crisis management system.

Communication at this stage also involves post-crisis counseling6. At this post-crisis period, the

company is now back to normal operations. The problem is no longer the focus of management's

attention, but it still demands some attention. Reputation restoration can be continued during this

process. The organisation can use this crisis and turn it into an opportunity.

Although crises start off as a threat, good crisis management can help an organisation mitigate

the harm and, in some cases, recover better than before the crisis. Crises, on the other hand, are not

the only way to change an organisation. However, no organisation is immune to a disaster, so it will

be wise for all organisations to do everything possible to plan for one.

Bibliography

4
Benoit, W. L. (1995). Accounts, excuses, and apologies: A theory of image restoration. Albany: State University of New
York Press.
5
Coombs, W. T. (2007a). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, Managing, and responding (2nd ed.). Los Angeles:
Sage.
6
Sturges, D. L. (1994). Communicating through crisis: A strategy for organizational survival, Management
Communication Quarterly, 7, 297-316.
4
1. Laurence, Barton. 2001. Crisis in organizations II, 2nd ed. Cincinnati, OH: College Divisions

South-Western.

2. T. W., Coombs. 2006. Code red in the boardroom: Crisis management as organizational DNA.

Westport, CN: Praeger.

3. J. T., Kash and J. R., Darling. 1998. Crisis management: Prevention, diagnosis and

intervention. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 19(4), 179–186.

4. L. W., Benoit. 1995. Accounts, excuses, and apologies: A theory of image restoration.

Albany: State University of New York Press.

5. T. W., Coombs. 2007. Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, Managing, and responding

(2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

6. L. D., Sturges. 1994. Communicating through crisis: A strategy for organizational survival,

Management Communication Quarterly, 7, 297-316.